Song of the Day: The Last Goodbye from The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (by Billy Boyd)

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Arleigh

It’s been 13 years since the first film in what will ultimately become Peter Jackson’s Middle-Earth Saga and now we’re in the stretch run. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is set to arrive in North America this December 17. The film premiered in London on December 1, 2014.

Kids who first saw The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001 are now young adults. For adults who have returned time and time again to the world Peter Jackson built for over a decade of limitless imagination and hard work of thousands this final film will be the culmination of watching what many in years past have called unfilmable.

So, it’s with both joy and sadness that the book finally closes on Peter Jackson’s Middle-Earth journey and what better way than the final end credits song “The Last Goodbye” written and recorded by Peregrin Took himself, Billy Boyd.

The video itself mixes in scenes from both The Battle of the Five Armies and the previous five films. We also get some behind-the-scenes footage of the cast making their final farewells as filming closes to an end.

Damn people cutting onions.

The Last Goodbye

I saw the light fade from the sky
On the wind I heard a sigh
As the snowflakes cover my fallen brothers
I will say this last goodbye

Night is now falling
So ends this day
The road is now calling
And I must away
Over hill and under tree
Through lands where never light has shone
By silver streams that run down to the sea

Under cloud, beneath the stars
Over snow one winter’s morn
I turn at last to paths that lead home
And though where the road then takes me
I cannot tell
We came all this way
But now comes the day
To bid you farewell
Many places I have been
Many sorrows I have seen
But I don’t regret
Nor will I forget
All who took the road with me

To these memories I will hold
With your blessing I will go
To turn at last to paths that lead home
And though where the road then takes me
I cannot tell
We came all this way
But now comes the day
To bid you farewell

I bid you all a very fond farewell.

Here are The Gotham Winners

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Concluding tonight’s awards roundup, here are the winners of the Gotham Awards! (Click here for a full list of nominees.)

Best Feature — Birdman

Best Actress — Julianne Moore in Still Alice

Best Actor — Michael Keaton in Birdman

Best Documentary — CitizenFour

Breakthrough Director — Anna Lilly Amirpour for A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night

Breakthrough Actor — Tessa Thompson for Dear White People

Spotlight on Women Filmmakers “Live the Dream” Grant — Chloe Zhao for Songs My Brothers Taught Me

The Nominees for the 42nd Annual Annie Awards Have Been Announced

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The 42nd Annual Annie Nominations (honoring the best in animation) were announced today! You can see a full list of nominees here. Below are the nominations for best animated feature film, television series, and video game.

(Hopefully, at some point in the future, the Academy will finally start to give out an award for Best Voice Over Performance, which will make the Annies even more of an important precursor to the Academy Awards.)

Best Animated Feature
“Big Hero 6”
“Cheatin’”
“How to Train Your Dragon 2”
“Song of the Sea”
“The Book of Life”
“The Boxtrolls”
“The LEGO Movie”
“The Tale of The Princess Kaguya”

Best General Audience Animated Television/Broadcast Production
“Archer”
“Back To Backspace”
“Bob’s Burgers”
“Rick and Morty”
“Mike Tyson Mysteries”
“Regular Show”
“The Simpsons”

Best Video Game
“Forza Horizon 2”
“Valiant Hearts: The Great War”
“Child of Light”

Here Are The 19th Annual Satellite Nominations!

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

While the NYFCC were announcing their picks for the best of 2014, the International Press Association were announcing the nominees the 19th annual Satellite Awards. The Satellites aren’t really considered to be much of a precursor but they’re usually interesting. Because they generally nominate more films and performers than the Oscars, they’re always a nice mix of the expected and a few out-of-nowhere surprises.

Below you’ll find the film nominees. You can find a full list of Satellite nominees (including the television nominations) by clicking here.

Motion Picture
The Imitation Game
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash
Mr. Turner
Selma
Gone Girl
Birdman
Love is Strange
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel

Actor in a Motion Picture
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Miles Teller, Whiplash
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
David Oyelowo, Selma

Actor in a Supporting Role
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Edward Norton, Birdman
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher,
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Andy Serkis, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Actress in a Motion Picture
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Anne Dorval, Mommy
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Belle
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Reese Witherspoon, Wild
Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night

Actress in a Supporting Role
Emma Stone, Birdman
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Laura Dern, Wild
Tilda Swinton, Snowpiercer
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Katherine Waterston, Inherent Vice

Art Direction & Production Design
George DeTitta Jr., Kevin Thompson, Stephen H. Carter, Birdman
Andrew Menzies, Peter Russell, Fury
Debra Schutt, Mark Friedberg, Noah
Dylan Cole, Frank Walsh, Gary Freeman, Maleficent
Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock, Stephan Gessler, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Maria Djurkovic, Nick Dent, The Imitation Game

Best Ensemble
Into the Woods

Cinematography
Hoyte Van Hoytema, Interstellar
Dick Pope, Mr. Turner
Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman
Robert Elswit, Inherent Vice
Benoît Delhomme, The Theory of Everything
Jeff Cronenweth, Gone Girl

Costume Design
Anushia Nieradzik, Belle
Milena Canonero, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Colleen Atwood, Into the Woods
Anna B. Sheppard, Maleficent
Michael Wilkinson, Noah
Anais Romand, Saint Laurent

Director
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman
Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
David Fincher, Gone Girl
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
Ava DuVernay, Selma

Film Editing
Sandra Adair, Boyhood
Gary Roach, Joel Cox, American Sniper
Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione, Birdman
William Goldenberg, AThe Imitation Game
Dody Dorn, Jay Cassidy, Fury
Stan Salfas, William Hoy, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media
Big Hero 6
Song of the Sea
The Boxtrolls
The Lego Movie
Wrinkles
The Book of Life
How to Train Your Dragon 2

Motion Picture, Documentary
Red Army
Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq
Art and Craft
Citizenfour
Finding Vivian Maier
Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me
Jodorowsky’s Dune
Keep On Keepin’ On
Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles
Virunga

Motion Picture, International Film
Greece, Little England
Israel, Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem
Poland, Ida
Sweden, Force Majeure
Russia, Leviathan
Canada, Mommy
Estonia, Tangerines
Mauritania, Timbuktu
Argentina, Wild Tales
Belgium, Two Days, One Night

Original Score
Antonio Sanchez, Birdman
Alexandre Desplat, The Imitation Game
Thomas Newman, The Judge
Steven Price, Fury
Hans Zimmer, Interstellar
Atticus Ross, Trent Reznor, Gone Girl

Original Song
“Everything is Awesome,” The Lego Movie
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You,” Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me
“Split the Difference,” Boyhood
“I’ll Get What You Want,” Muppets Most Wanted
“What Is Love,” 127 Hours, Rio 2

Screenplay, Adapted
Paul Thomas Anderson, Inherent Vice
Graham Moore, The Imitation Game
Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl
Anthony McCarten, The Theory of Everything
Jason Hall, American Sniper
Cheryl Strayed, Nick Hornby, Wild

Screenplay, Original
Paul Webb, Selma
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo, Nicolas Giabone, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Ira Sachs, Mauricio Zacharias, Love is Strange
Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
Christopher Miller, Phil Lord, The Lego Movie

Sound (Editing and Mixing)
Craig Henighan, Ken Ishii, Skip Lievsay, Noah
Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van Der Ryn, Peter J. Devlin, Transformers: Age of Extinction
Anna Behlmer, Mark Holding, Taeyoung Choi, Terry Porter, Snowpiercer
Ben Wilkins, Craig Mann, Thomas Curley, Whiplash
Blake Leyh, John Casali, Michael Keller, Michael Prestwoood Smith, Renee Tondelli, Into the Woods
Ren Klyce, Steve Cantamessa, Gone Girl

Visual Effects
Eric Durst, Snowpiercer
Stephane Ceretti, Guardians of the Galaxy
Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter, Paul Franklin, Scott Fisher, Interstellar
Ben Snow, Burt Dalton, Dan Schrecker, Marc Chu, Noah
John Frazier, Patrick Tubach, Scott Benza, Scott Farrar, Transformers: Age of Extinction
Dan Lemmon, Joe Letteri, Matt Kutcher, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Here Are The New York Film Critics’ Circle Winners!

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Oscar season is upon us! December is the time of month when critics across the nation attempt to influence the Oscar race by announcing their picks for the best of 2014!

Up first, the New York Film Critics’ Circle! They announced their picks earlier today and, while no one is surprised to see Boyhood take best picture, a lot of observers (including me) were surprised for the awards for Timothy Spall and Marion Cotillard. Spall, of course, had been an early contender for his performance in Mr. Turner but, as of late, he had been overshadowed by Michael Keaton and others. As for Cotillard, she was on hardly anyone’s radar. It’ll be interesting to see if her win here is a fluke or if it’s the start of a successful nomination campaign.

Here are the winners!

BEST PICTURE
“Boyhood”

BEST DIRECTOR
Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”

BEST ACTOR
Timothy Spall, “Mr. Turner”

BEST ACTRESS
Marion Cotillard, “The Immigrant” and “Two Days, One Night”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”

BEST SCREENPLAY
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Darius Khondji, “The Immigrant”

BEST ANIMATED FILM
“The Lego Movie”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“Ida” (Poland)

BEST NON-FICTION FEATURE
“CitizenFour”